Slip
by maryl
Summary: Her heart could break. He knew it. He'd done it in the past. But she always got up. It would take more than him to destroy her. Chuck was terrified he was seeing the one thing that could. After 4.22. Not based on spoilers. Just an idea where it could go.
1. Chapter 1

Hello. Okay this is something that has been floating in my head since the finale. This isn't spoilers. This is just me snowballing a story in my head. I have no idea what the writers have planned. Like I said, this is just something in my head. It's short and it's a two-part story, so there'll be one chapter after this. Remember I don't proof read. Please be kind. Here we go…

Serena sat with Eleanor and Cyrus in the nearly empty waiting room. Over the past two weeks they'd taken to being at the hospital in shifts. But tonight they had all ended up there together, united and yet heartbroken about what they were trying to do.

Two weeks ago, at only twenty-six weeks, Blair's water had broken. The prince had been in Europe, but Blair had stayed behind, not wanting to fly, but to put the final touches on their coming wedding. Having taken the semester off to plan her wedding and get ready for the baby, Blair was at home when she went into labour. Dorota had left early for a weekend away with Vanya and Ana. All her parents were in Europe. Serena had been writing a mid-term and her phone was off. Which all was moot since she hadn't been able to call her first choice. Since their final goodbye they had been happy for the other, kind when they ran into each other, and had stayed clear of one another when they could. She knew he was seeing someone. She knew he was okay. She didn't call him.

Dan met her at the hospital after she'd called an ambulance. It was the first time Blair had taken anything this close to public transit. Ever the optimist Blair had been sure that her labour could be stopped. She almost broke herself trying to keep the baby in, but there had been no stopping this.

The diagnosis had not been good right from the start. The doctor's had insisted that there was no hope for the small boy, and on top of a massive list of conditions, he was also showing no brain activity and breathed only with the help of machines.

The same day he was born, Blair dragged herself from her hospital bed, insisting he just needed his mother and she was going to be there for her child. Only parents were allowed in the NICU, but one of the nurses had let Serena in to try and convince Blair to go back to her room. Blair had blocked Serena out, and in the end they had just sat in cushioned rocking chairs beside the incubator for hours until Serena couldn't take it anymore. She'd kissed Blair's cheek, promising to come back with tea. She'd gotten up and searched for a place to be alone for a moment and had chosen Blair's room because she knew the private room would be empty. It wasn't.

"Is she going to live?" He asked in the barest whisper, as if just voicing the words nearly broke him.

"Yes."

"The baby?"

"I don't know…"

He nodded and left. Minutes later Serena collapsed on the floor crying for her friend who couldn't.

Over the next couple of days, family flooded in. At first they had felt like Blair, that there was hope, but upon seeing the small body, and see how Blair seemed to wither before their eyes, they began to realize what the doctors were saying was true. More doctors were contacted, but they said the same thing. The baby was going to die.

The moved him to a private room, which the family all thought was better because there could be more privacy, but in the end several of them began to wonder if it was worse. Blair never left it, and now instead of other parents and the action of the ward… aside from their visits, there was only her voice, the machines and the passage of time.

Blair barely ate, barely drank, she just sat by his incubator. She'd talk to him; she'd touch the glass, and tell him all the wonderful things that were in his life waiting for him.

Louis had been the first to try to get her out of the room. She didn't even look at him when she told him about the blood work that had come back. Louis had stumbled from the room and straight into Serena and Dan. Louis looked stunned and he opened his palm. It was hard to miss the massive diamond that was there. Serena cringed.

"Louis, she's just emotional right now. She worried about the baby, she's hurt, and she doesn't know what she's doing…"

"Yeah, man. Give her a few days… till we know she and your son are okay."

"He is not my son…"

Dan and Serena exchanged a look. There was only one other person who could be the father of Blair's child. Louis left and never came back. Serena looked at Dan. "We have to call him. I don't know how much time the baby has left… he'd want to meet his son."

Serena and Dan had gone to the waiting room where all of Blair's parents sat. They had looked confused, because Louis had hurried in, said nothing and everything had changed, had a whispered conversation with his mother, and left. It had been up to Serena to tell Eleanor, Cyrus, Harold and Ramon about the baby's blood type not matching Louis'. Like her, it hadn't taken them long to figure out who's it would match.

Eleanor had shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "This boy… it always comes back to him…"

Pulling out her cell phone she'd scanned through her address book and made the call. They had been sitting in their chairs for only half an hour when they saw him stride down the hall. It was clear he had taken to heart the last word Eleanor had said to him. "Hurry." He'd paused seeing them and Eleanor had nodded at him and told him what he needed to know.

"Room 814."

Since he had heard what had happened he'd lived by his phone for weeks. He'd waited for word from Serena. Waited to hear. He'd wanted to be there for her, but hadn't wanted to intrude. Then Eleanor's voice had told him that he wasn't the intruder. He was the father.

Not wanting to startle her or the baby, Chuck opened the door. The room was lit mostly lit by soft mobiles that danced patterns across the walls. The only other light came from the incubator and machines that had been quieted to calm the room. The sound of soft Mozart set off her voice as he heard her speak to the baby.

The light from the hall is what finally caught her attention and Blair looked up to see Chuck standing in the doorway. Chuck flinched at the circles under her eyes and the frailness of her body. Even that didn't make her seem weak though. He could see the determination in her eyes, and he knew that would be her downfall.

Blair stood and moved to block the monitor. It wasn't just him. She did it with a lot of people, actually anyone that tried to tell her to let go. This was her son. She wasn't letting go.

Chuck could see the edge she was standing on, and he knew he had to handle this right. This moment was the only one that mattered. Not 28 weeks ago. Not tomorrow. Not even one minute ago or one minute from now. This was everything.

Very gently, as if speaking to an injured animal, Chuck spoke to Blair. "Can I meet him?"

A broken yet hopeful smile came to her lips. So few people wanted to meet the baby. So many were set on saying goodbye. She nodded, but then got nervous. What if he didn't see what she saw? What if he didn't want the baby? Her gut twisted as if with him, more than any other, she had to defend the baby.

"He's just a little on the small side…" She began.

She moved aside and Chuck came to stand beside her as they looked down at their delicate son. Their shoulders touched as she reached out and gently caressed the hard plastic.

"We aren't allowed to touch him… he could get an infection."

Chuck nodded.

They stood there for hours.

"When was the last time you slept?" He finally asked.

"I'm not tired."

"You could sleep here… I'd wake you if anything changes…"

She knew he was trying to be helpful and for once she didn't snap at someone's concern for her. She was honest with him. "I just… don't want to miss anything."

Chuck nodded and he indicated the chair beside the incubator before he sat in the other. They sat vigil together for another two days. At times Chuck go Blair to drink, eat and even sleep for short periods at a time. It seemed like this could go on forever.

That was until the baby stopped breathing. Until his tiny hear stopped. A medical team had rushed in, but there had been nothing for them to do. When it was over the room cleared out except for the devastated parents and a doctor.

"Do you want to hold him?" The doctor asked kindly to the young woman who sat broken her the chair she had lived in for weeks.

Blair nodded and two big tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly as she held her hands open for her baby. An impossibly small bundle was placed in her arms and Chuck knelt down in front of her, gently sandwiching their child between them.

"He's still warm…" She murmured.

It was the last time they would see him.

TahDAH! It's a little dark but I'm feeling a little dark after the finale.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! I feel I should warn you… I have no idea if this chapter is more depressing or less depressing than the last one. (big smile) Sorry! My mood is a little better on the plus side? Thanks to everyone for the reviews and well wishes. Still I didn't proof it, but if you read my work you know I don't do that often. Here we go…

He stood at the widow looking out from his Empire. For a man who was used to being alone, he had never felt so isolated. It was just weeks till Christmas and it had been just month since his son had died.

Watching the baby grow cold in her arms, Chuck had felt like the cold had blown through his soul. A nurse had finally urged Blair to relinquish the baby and even lost in his own grief, he had expected Blair to break, to be inconsolable. Instead she had sat in the chair with empty arms and empty eyes. Chuck had stayed on his knees as he looked at her and yet couldn't see her.

This wasn't supposed to happen. She was Blair Waldorf. He was Chuck Bass. A child of theirs should have been stronger then ten babies, and yet their son had died. Chuck kept thinking over and over again that it made no sense. He didn't know how long they stayed that way, both of them in shock and desolate. Eventually Blair's parents, Serena and Lily, and gingerly entered the room. Eleanor and Harold had urged a silent Blair into a wheelchair to take her back to the private room they had seen prepared for her and she had yet to use.

Lily and Serena had each hooked an arm under his elbow and with difficulty had drawn him to his feet. It was like everyone had felt the need to take the lost parents from this room. They managed to get him to the front doors of the hospital before he somewhat snapped out of this trance. His head snapped back as if he was searching for her.

"Blair…"

Rufus had exited the limo upon spotting them struggle with Chuck's half collapsed frame. He took over the bulk of Chuck's weight from Lily who now placed her hands on either side of Chuck's face and tried to have him focus on her.

"Charles." She said firmly. "Her parents have her. We're taking you home."

He hadn't wanted to go. He hadn't wanted to leave her. But he was in so much pain himself at the moment he had let himself get pulled from the building, loaded into the limo and taken back to Lily's. He had sat on Lily's couch for hours. He hadn't wanted to eat. He hadn't wanted to drink. He just sat there.

Serena had stayed at the hospital to be close to Blair. Rufus and Lily had taken shifts sitting beside him, until Nate and Eric arrived and took over. Sometime close to midnight Serena came home and for the first time Chuck looked up.

"How is she?" He dared to ask hoarsely.

Serena took a deep breath. "She's quiet. She signed herself out of the hospital against medical advice, but her parents and Dorota are with her… so…"

Serena looked up to where her mother had come to stand. Lily's hand had come up to rest on her heart and Rufus laid comforting palms on her shoulders. "Eleanor asked for us to come over tomorrow morning… To make arrangements…"

Lily nodded and turned her face into her husband's shoulder to hide her pain and tears. Serena looked at Chuck just in time to see the confusion of her statement give way to clarity. His face contorted as if in deep pain, but he managed to nod his agreement. Nate laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and both he and Eric promised to be there.

The next morning the Chuck, Nate, Rufus, Dan and the Van Der Woodsens had arrived at the Waldorf penthouse. There was a spread of food out on the dining room table and the endless bouquets of flowers had clearly started to roll in judging by the space. After greeting each other, Harold and Ramon sat on the couch with Lily and Eric. Serena and Nate followed Cyrus to get some food before finding seats. Eleanor, Dan and Rufus spoke quietly by the piano.

It hadn't taken him more than a second to realize she wasn't there, and so Chuck had taken a spot standing by the fireplace where he got a clear view of the stairs. No one voice it, but they all knew who they were waiting for. Ten minutes later she descended the stairs, with Dorota hovering just behind her.

Unlike the past couple of weeks, Blair was completely put together. She was dressed in silk blouse and A Line skirt, sky-high heels and lace stockings. Her makeup was immaculate and her hair was set in perfect curls. She was the image of Upper East Side perfection, one surely to be welcomed anywhere in the world. However her aura was something else entirely and from the second she entered the already sorrowful mood had changed. If a room could throb with pain, this is what it would feel like, Chuck imagined as he watched her arrival.

She took a seat in one of the high wing backed chairs. She greeted no one. She said nothing. Her eyes were bone dry as she stared at an arrangement of hydrangeas and orchids on the table beside her. She never looked at him. He never looked away from her.

Eleanor cleared her throat attempting to break the silence that Blair's arrival seemed to have brought down on the room. "Should we get started?"

Lily and Eleanor took over for the most part, in the beginning making suggestions and waiting for Blair to comment, but after her continued silence they went on without her. The church was decided upon, as was the flowers, guest list and caterer, and there would be a small reception at the Van Der Woodsen's after the service. All of this had been easier, like planning a party, but the next was more difficult. In more hushed tones they spoke of the casket and headstone, and with no objection it was decided that the baby be laid to rest next to his grandfather. It was then that Eleanor asked for the room, and everyone else filtered into the dining room and shutting the doors. Eleanor and Lily sat on the couch and looked at Chuck and Blair.

"I know this is difficult… but the baby needs a name."

Chuck bit his lip wincing from the pain. He knew that Blair had yet to name the baby when he was in the hospital, but he'd assumed that she would have done so before leaving. He tried to search her expression, but she remained blank. He felt Lily and Eleanor's eyes on him, and he asked quietly if the baby could be named after him. He couldn't give the boy much else, but he could give him his name.

"That sounds lovely." Eleanor had said.

"No." Blair's voice was so cold it could shatter teeth and she'd looked at him incredulously. "No."

Eleanor had looked like she'd wanted to argue with her daughter, but at Chuck's small shake of his head, she'd let the matter drop. Three days later, under a freakishly blue cloudless sky, they buried Adam Waldorf-Bass. Chuck had sat beside her as the flowers were laid and the tiny coffin was lowered. They'd sat together till all the guests had headed to the reception. Finally Blair had asked him for a few moments alone. Chuck had nodded, kissed her cheek gently and stood, commenting that he'd meet her at the reception.

She'd never shown up. Instead she'd fled to France. Not to Louis as Chuck had first heartbreakingly expected, but to her father's vineyard. Since then he had heard very little, but wanted so very much. So now he stood in his Empire. So close to having everything, but now alone.

"You have a tree?" A cherished voice asked from behind him.

Chuck spun around in shock at her voice, but more because he thought he'd imagined it till he saw her. The room apartment had grown dark around him as the sun had set, but the lights on the Christmas tree were set to a timer and their white glow softly lit shadows across the room. Chuck swallowed the massive lump in his throat and struggled to speak.

"Yes… Lily insisted." He said his hands still jammed in his pockets.

Blair nodded, and looked away from him and back to the tree. Chuck looked at her. She looked better. She lost a frightening amount of weight while Adam had been in the hospital and after, but now there was flesh back on her, and while pale, the circles were not so heavy on her skin.

She moved to the tree and he met her there. She looked up at him with her large doe eyes. He had been about to tell her Nate had gone to his grandfather's and while Lily had invited him for Christmas, he had refused. The tree was his mother's way of consolation. He was about to say several things… something… anything to keep her with him. His soul had been torn apart since Adam's death and her flight. His need for her was the greatest it had ever been, but before he found words she'd her hands came up to the buttons of her long coat, and then slipped it off her to the ground.

Chuck's chest nearly exploded. She was wearing just black lace La Perla's, stockings and heels. She launched herself into his arms, her mouth finding his in a kiss that scorched his entire body. His arms wrapped around her pulling her tight as they deepened the kiss. Her hands were everywhere, and Chuck felt the first sense of alarm. Something was off he thought as he pulled his mouth away to try and look in her eyes.

Blair wouldn't meet his gaze, but instead moved to rain desperate kisses along his neck and he felt her hands fumble with the button of his pants. Everything in him wanted to cave to her will.

"Blair… wait." He tried to rain himself in and ignore the fires she was setting along his skin. "It's… too soon."

"It's okay." Blair whispered quickly thinking to assure him. "I'm fine. I'm ready."

As her mouth claimed his again and she tugged his shirt from his pants he started to get a stronger sense of dread. He loved her and wanted her desperately, but there was something off.

"Blair, wait!" He said firmly, pulling her hands from the buttons of his shirt.

Leaning in she tried to kiss him again whimpering seductively. "Don't you want me…"

He pulled his head away from her seeking lips, but ducked to try to see into her eyes. "Yes. Always… but what do you want?"

She was growing frustrated with his reluctance and she pulled at hands that wouldn't let hers go. "I want to have sex with you. Stop playing hard to get!"

"It's too soon." Chuck said adamantly. "We need more than just sex. We need to talk, to—"

"We need a baby." She snapped.

Stunned by her words he dropped her hands. Blair used the opportunity to grasp the edges of his shirt and rip it open, sending buttons shooting across the room before she raked her finder nails down his chest.

"It's okay! I've already started getting my periods again! The doctor said I could have more children! I'll be more careful this time." Her eyes met his in crazed desperation. "Please, Chuck! Please!"

Throwing herself into his arms she kissed him passionately, trying to gain his participation, but all he could think was… This wasn't right. This wasn't how it should be.

"Blair, stop!" He finally barked. He pulled himself away from her and stumbled back to put the couch between them. He was no angel, and a large part of him was not only eager, but also desperate to let her have her way and conceive another child right away. But his rational mind foretold the doom of her plan. Panting and out of breath they looked at each other from across the space of the room.

"You said you would always love me!" She cried brokenly. "Why won't you do this for me?"

"Blair…" Chuck tried desperately. "I love you. With all my heart I do… but this isn't right…"

Blair was backing away from him with eyes like a dark storm, snatching up her coat as she wildly shook her head. "I just want our baby back…"

"Blair… our son is gone." He said, now broken himself he reached out to her.

"No!" Blair screamed before spinning on her heel and into the waiting elevator. She was gone before he could get to her. Lost to him. Lost to herself.

TahDAH! Okay? Better or worse? This fic was originally supposed to be only two chapters but it's probably going to be three or four. Oh, and the name thing. That will be explained later. I had them go with Adam because he was the first. Now that I think about it the ending may be a bit confusing. Oops.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello! If you read my stuff, you know I'm a happy endings kind of girl. I can't help it. Because of this… this will be a lighter chapter. I was thinking about it being two, but for some reason… I'm not a fan of fours and can't bring myself to end with four chapters. So this is the last chapter of this short little fic. Here we go…

She left a vacuum in her wake that soon turned into a tempest. Chuck Bass was angrier at the world than he had ever been and he tore his Empire apart. He swept the suite in a rage at the loss of his son. He broke everything that could be broken because it mirrored what he saw in Blair's eyes. He did it all with the pain of a man who could control so much, but hadn't been able to control this. He hadn't been able to keep both himself and Blair from such a near inconsolable pain.

Panting and on the verge of vomiting he collapsed. With the suite in ruins he looked around and knew what he needed. He needed to find Blair.

In the harshness of the past couple of months he'd kept his distance for a couple of reasons. He both needed her near him and yet was frightened to be close to her. No one understood the deep pain they were feeling but each other, because no one had lost what they had. What scared him was how he knew it could go either way. Bring them together or rip them forever apart. He didn't know if he could stand it if he lost Blair permanently. He'd let her go for good once and it had nearly killed them. There was also a tiny part of him that believed if he hadn't let her go, if he had clung, he could have taken care of her, relieved the stress that had to have been pounding her, and he could have saved their child.

So like the coward and failure he thought himself to be right now… he stayed away. But now he realized his mistake. He should never have stayed away, left her and himself alone in this, he should have sought her out. He needed her. She needed him. They needed each other.

In a move that would probably surprise no one, he'd had a PI tailing her for weeks now, and every now and then he'd torture himself with updates because he couldn't stand not knowing if she was okay. He'd know she wasn't good, but he comforted himself with the knowledge that she was still the strongest person he'd ever met and she hadn't gone off the deep end. After today he realized he might have gambled wrong.

Getting the tip he followed her to her mother's penthouse. Her parents, Dorota and her family were all in Europe for the holidays and Blair had been set to fly out to meet them this morning. Chuck felt irrationally angry with all of them for leaving her. They should have known she wouldn't get on that plane.

The penthouse was barely lit, but her room was one he could have found his way to without eyes. He'd never been to anyplace more than he'd walked the space between the elevator and her room. The Waldorf penthouse was one of the great unchanging factors in his life, and as he reached it, he knew her door was the one he always most wanted to pass through. The door was slightly open and he gently pushed it wide.

"Blair?"

She didn't answer but as he glanced around he noticed that though the light in the bathroom was off, there was still light that tunneled through. Sweat broke out on his palms, and he almost didn't want to follow, but he knew she was there. Chuck moved pass the bathroom and stood in the doorway. His knees nearly gave out and he had to clutch the door jam to keep from dropping to the floor.

He knew Serena had moved out to make way for this, but he'd had no idea they'd completed it. The nursery.

Everything in the room was white, silver or pewter. Everything was soft and clean, and was clearly carefully selected with love. This was a room made of love that lay empty waiting for a child that was never going to call it his. All that was left were the parents who felt nothing but his loss. All that his mother had put into this room was gone and it felt like she had lost a piece of herself with him.

Blair lay on the floor, curled in on herself and her cheek pressed into the polished hardwood, and Chuck moved carefully to her and knelt by her side. He knew she knew it was him because when he'd first walked in she'd been like a wet rag melting into the floorboards, but he'd seen her body tense and shiver like she was about to break as she waited. Very gently he reached out and stroked her hair once before letting his hand rest atop her head, his thumb tracing a gentle circle on her skin. Could you tell someone you loved them with a touch? Could you heal them with your body and fix their soul?

She turned her head into his touch like a kitten in the sun, and then tilted her face up to his.

"Did you change your mind?" She looked at him with such hope it twisted his guts anew.

He licked his bottom lip in stress, wishing again that he could give in, but knowing that another baby so soon wouldn't heal either of them and in fact would most likely make the wound worse. "No…"

Her eyes had been dry and wide, and he watched them fill with tears and disappointment.

"Why?" She asked on a broken sob, and her head fell in his hand like a rag doll. As the misery shook her, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the room, knowing that if it were up to him he'd burn it down. There was nothing as depressing as a nursery that would never have a baby.

He climbed onto the bed with her in his arms and held tighter as her sobs threatened to break her. She clung to him and the weight of it all exploded in him as well, and together they cried for their son, clinging to each other till it felt like they shared one skin. They had lost so much, but together again they felt whole. Exhausted they fell asleep.

It was like neither one of them had slept in a million years. Their bodies were like lead as they woke up, cemented to each other, with the dawn the next morning. Neither really moved, but Chuck could feel the tickle of her eyelashes against his collar as they opened, and Blair could feel the slight change in his breathing under her.

Weighed down by the darkness of loss, and winter and grey cityscape, Chuck whispered to her.

"You want to get out of here?"

Two hours later they were on the Bass jet, and a few hours after that they were on a small private island in Fiji. On the plane, Chuck had made the phone calls to the family, and had brooked no argument, but it also seemed like there was an understanding. Nothing was working in Blair getting past this, and maybe this was the key.

Blair sat next to Chuck on the plane, but said very little. She didn't even ask where they were going, but when the porter opened the door to their cabana, Chuck saw her take one of the first full breaths he'd seen in months. The place was minimalist but beautiful. The entire back half of the open concept space opened up onto their private beach and ocean. It was wood, ocean, sand and light.

The only other people they saw was the porters who would bring the meals they ordered from the unseen main house. Being very well paid the staff would clean and set the room only when the couple was out.

During the day they'd walk on the beach, not touching, but together. Blair, who had always loved the water, would dive into the waves and swim out while Chuck would sit in the sand and watch her. Or they'd lie on wooden, white cushioned loungers, whose legs rested in the waves, watching the ocean, being kissed by the sun.

At night they'd lay together in the massive king sized bed with mosquito netting floating around the sides. They didn't speak much, and while Blair still shied a little away from him during the day, at night she would cuddle into his side, resting her head on his chest as he stroked her back.

Some might say the sun and ocean had healing powers, but it just coated the couple that was in fact healing each other.

On their fourth night on the island Blair lay sprawled across Chuck's chest, and as they listened to the waves crashing a few meters away, he thought she had fallen asleep.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this… he was never supposed to die."

Chuck's breath caught at her words. He kissed her forehead, but kept silent and let her talk.

"I had a plan… I was never going to do anything crazy… as soon as I knew he was yours I would have told you… I had an appointment for the week after…"

She shook her head and choked on the words a little, but Chuck got it. Until she knew whose baby it was she hadn't wanted to make a move. Life had moved for her.

"I'm sorry." She said softly.

"So am I."

She tilted her head a little to see his face and she asked him confused. "What are you sorry for?"

He shut his eyes for a moment and his arm tightened around her. "I should never have let you go. If I had been th—"

Blair's hand reached up and she pressed her fingers against his mouth. "Shhh! It's not your fault… It's not anybody's fault." She said sadly but truthfully. "He just… wasn't meant to be."

Blair smoothed away the tear that streaked down his cheek as he nodded tightly before she went on.

"As for Louis… You wanted to give me happiness, Chuck. It's not your fault that there are no fairy tails."

"Maybe not… but there's you and me.

The next day passed the same as the last, only this time as they walked on the hot sand Blair reached out and held Chuck's hand as they moved. The next night they again lay in bed together and talked in the warm breeze of the ocean.

"Why wouldn't you let him have my name?" Chuck finally had to ask.

Blair placed a small kiss against his chest as if to take the sting from what she had done, before she tried to explain herself.

"I couldn't… I couldn't bring myself to believe that he would be it… That he would be the only child we would ever have… and I couldn't give up your name. I suppose that makes me selfish bu—"

"I get it." He said, and he did.

After they'd been there about a week before Blair finally enticed a reluctant Chuck into the ocean. Blair wore a small white bikini, which Chuck appreciated, but Chuck wore khaki board shorts, a light blue button up short sleeved shirt, and a grass fedora. He looked adorable and Blair told him so with a small smile. That smile got him out passed his calves in the water. When they stood inches apart in the waist deep, warm clear water they couldn't do anything but look at each other. He thought he was going to kiss her. She thought he was going to kiss her. The wave that knocked them both over decided. Coming up for air, Blair smoothed her hair back and looked over at Chuck.

"My hat!" He practically bellowed as the straw gave way under the salt water, and basically disintegrated on his head.

His indignation coupled with the site of pieces of his hat covering his face and shoulders suddenly triggered something in Blair. She laughed. A real Blair Waldorf laugh, and it was like heaven to Chuck. Shaking his hat from his head he dived under to clear it and came up in front of her, hefting her up and then dunking them both in the water as retribution.

He didn't let go of her as they laughed in each other's arms, and finally they floated there together and Chuck felt happy for the first time in forever. Looking into those amazing eyes… he saw her again. That little spark that was all Blair and so alive it made him feel alive just being in her sight.

Unable to help himself he leaned down and kissed her. She froze for a moment, but then sank into it and kissed him back. She was deepening it when he pulled away. He kissed her nose, then her forehead, and then he pulled them both out of the water.

That night Chuck lay across the bed as Blair gave him a foot massage in payment of him having beaten her in chess after dinner. Her mind was on the kiss and on possibilities as she worked the oil into his skin. Finally her head cocked to her shoulder as she looked at him. "Do you think I'm fat? Is that why you don't want me?"

For a second she caught him. Then he saw the simmer underneath. "Nice try, Waldorf."

"What?" She said innocently but with a hint of anger radiating through because she sensed he'd caught on.

"What?" He mocked. "You say. 'Do you think I'm fat' and bat teary doe eyes and think I'm going to waver. That I'm going to roll you over, worship you, have sex with you, and get you pregnant."

He got serious as he looked at her and moved forward, taking her face in his hands. "You know why. We're not ready."

"But I'm okay… I made sure I ate well… took care of myself… the doctor said I could…"

Chuck sighed and his fingers massaged her neck. "And I'm grateful you're okay… Blair… we'll have another baby someday… when the time is right… on our terms."

She knew he was right, and understood that her crazed desire to recapture what they had lost so soon after their son's death wouldn't solve any problems, only add to them. She nodded and he kissed her. When they were breathless she pulled back a little to whisper. "I still want you."

And because he always wanted her they made love, Chuck using protection to keep her safe till they were ready, knowing that one day they would be.

Six years later…

Chuck was sprawled across their bed in what would seem to be complete repose. It was an act, he felt like a tightened elastic on the inside. His wife was kneeling on the bed, her back ramrod straight and her fingers clutching her knees.

"Now?" He asked for the eighth time in a minute.

"No."

"Did you do it right?"

She glanced over her shoulder to glare at him. "Yes, Charles, I think I know how to pee on a stick."

She saw the gleam in his eyes and after five years of marriage and knowing him for most of their lives, she knew that insidious little twinkle. Her brow furrowed into a scowl. "Shut UP!"

He snickered and she pinched his leg. He yelped and grabbed her, pulling her back onto the pillows and kissing her. A second later he lifted his head and looked down at her and the worry in her eyes.

"It will be okay. No matter what, we'll be okay." He promised her.

"I know." She said in a small voice before she kissed him again.

They were interrupted by the timer on her cell going off. They both shot up in the bed, and they had thought that they'd both charge the bathroom, but instead they froze. This was their third month of trying and while it was amazing and fun it was stressful because they both wanted this so badly, and this was the first month she'd been late.

She looked at him and wrung her hands. "Can you?"

He nodded and walked to the bathroom, his mind focused on what he would say if it was negative and he had to see the disappointment in her eyes. He didn't have to worry.

"You're pregnant." Chuck said with a giant smile and eyes crinkled with happiness.

Blair screamed and launched herself at him.

Thirty-seven weeks later she wanted to kill him… and herself as she felt like she was being ripped apart. Even through all the pain she knew it was different this time. She didn't have the sense that anything was wrong, and she was right. After eleven hours of labour, Charles Bass II was born. Healthy, perfect and angry… like any self-respecting Bass would be after getting evicted. The Upper East Side would never be the same.

TahDAH! I hope you all didn't hate it.

Oh, and… Life tip… never watch Cupcake Wars when you have ZERO access to any form of a cupcake. It's almost torture. I want a cupcake so freaking bad…


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